BOCA
RATON, FL (March 23, 2011)--
Florida Atlantic University’s John D. MacArthur Campus
Library Gallery is hosting “Proceed and Be Bold!,” an
exhibition of posters by Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr., a letterpress
artist who is known internationally for his controversial posters
and book arts, through Tuesday, May 10, at 5353 Parkside Drive,
Jupiter.

Kennedy’s “Proceed and Be Bold!” exhibition
rolls language and color into a visually engaging four-cornered
and sometimes four-lettered package. His posters explore social,
political and racial issues with quotes from such figures as
Abolitionist Sojourner Truth and Civil Rights Icon Rosa Parks,
and such phrases as “Coffee Should Be Black as Hell, Strong
as Death and Sweet as Love” and “Coffee Makes You
Queer.’’

Kennedy’s posters have made their way around the world and
last year hung from wooden clothespins on twine throughout the
Wimberly Library on FAU’s Boca Raton campus.

“We are so
excited to bring “Proceed and Be Bold!” to FAU's
MacArthur Campus Library,” said John Cutrone, director of
the Arthur and Mata Jaffe Center on FAU’s Boca Raton
campus, who curated both exhibitions. “It was an amazingly
popular exhibition at our Boca Raton campus last winter, adding a
jolt of life and even a little controversy to the dialogue here.
If we can continue that dialogue by bringing Kennedy's work to
other places, I think that's a very good thing.”

The artist is one of a small but growing number of artists and
print enthusiasts who have rescued letterpress equipment from an
otherwise bleak future. In the 1960s, letterpress printing gave
way to the newer, faster technology of offset printing, which
uses plates with complete pages imprinted on them, instead of
individual characters and thereby could reproduce pages faster
and more cheaply than moveable type. As print shops switched to
newer equipment, most printers sold, destroyed or gave away their
presses and type. Whatever survived was lost or taken in by those
who took the medium to an artistic level.

Kennedy prints his posters in oil-based inks on rigid brown
chipboard. He uses multiple ink colors and type or type high wood
blocks. He changes the ink colors and combinations so no two
posters are identical.

As
a companion to the exhibition, the MacArthur library is offering
for viewing “Proceed and Be Bold,” a film that
follows Kennedy’s life and work, and explains why he walked
away from a corporate 9-5 job as a computer programmer 30 years
ago to work in the lost crafts of letter press printing and
bookmaking.

Laura Zinger, the film’s producer, originally set out to
make a film about Kennedy’s life, but after reviewing the
footage, realized it was more about race and art in America and
the sacrifices that an artist makes.

Originally from Louisiana, Kennedy graduated from the University
of Illinois at Urbana Champion, and lives in Gordo, a small rural
town in Alabama. He also is a papermaker, book artist, educator,
performance artist and author.

The exhibition is free and open to the public. The
library’s hours are Sundays from 12:30 to 11 p.m.; Monday
through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Fridays from 8:30
a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from noon to 6 p.m. For more
information on the exhibition, call 561-799-8530 or go to
www.library.fau.edu/npb/npb.htm.

-FAU-

About
FAU’s MacArthur Campus:

FAU’s
MacArthur Campus in Jupiter offers a broad range of
undergraduate and graduate degree programs. The campus is home
to the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, the Lifelong Learning
Society, the Scripps Florida research facilities and the future
site of the Max Planck Florida Institute.

About
Florida Atlantic University:

Florida
Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its
doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. In
commemoration of its origin, FAU is celebrating its 50th
anniversary throughout 2011. Today, the University serves more
than 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students on seven
campuses and sites. FAU’s world-class teaching and
research faculty serves students through 10 colleges: the
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters, the College
of Business, the College for Design and Social Inquiry, the
College of Education, the College of Engineering
& Computer Science, the Graduate College, the Harriet L.
Wilkes Honors College, the Charles E. Schmidt College of
Medicine, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and the
Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. FAU is ranked as a High
Research Activity institution by the Carnegie Foundation for
the Advancement of Teaching. For more information, visit
www.fau.edu.